First spots on Team USA 2015 earned at Summer Trials

ARLINGTON, Texas - The first spots on Team USA for 2015 were earned Sunday as the 2014 United States Bowling Congress Summer Team USA Trials wrapped up at the International Training and Research Center.

Shannon O'Keefe of O'Fallon, Illinois, Kayla Johnson of Washington, Illinois, Mike Fagan of Hurst, Texas, and Chris Colella of Templeton, Massachusetts, all bowled their way onto the team in the three-day event.

O'Keefe topped the women's division with a 15-game total of 3,305 (220.3 average), while Johnson finished second with 3,185. Fagan earned the top spot on the men's side with 3,384 (225.6 average) with Colella taking second at 3,344.

The top two players in each division after 15 games earned the automatic spots on Team USA in 2015. The remainder of the Team USA roster will be determined and announced at the 2015 USBC Team USA Trials in January.

This marks the 11th consecutive year O'Keefe will be a member of Team USA. She's made the squad every year since 2005 and now will set her sights on her new job as the women's coach at McKendree.

"It never gets old, and winning this is like making the team for the first time," O'Keefe said. "Now I can just relax the rest of the year, coach my team at McKendree and not have to worry about making the team in January."

Johnson made the team for the second consecutive year through the Summer Team USA Trials. She represented Team USA at the Pan American Sports Festival earlier this summer and looks forward to growing her game even more next year.

"I think more than anything finally having a two-time in front of my name for this accomplishment feels good," Johnson said. "I learned a lot over this past year, coming to team camp and representing our country in Mexico, and I hope to continue to learn on this journey."

Fagan led every round en route to earning a spot on Team USA for the fifth time and held on to win the event by 40 pins despite struggling a bit on Sunday's long pattern (Paris).

"First, I want to congratulate Chris Colella for making the team because he bowled amazing all weekend," Fagan said. "I excelled on the short pattern, which has normally been where I struggle, so I was proud of myself there. Today on the long, I struggled so I was really glad to pull through and fight my way to make Team USA again."

Colella, who competes for Wichita State, earned a spot on Team USA for the first time and said ongoing tryouts for the Shockers team helped prepare him for the event.

"I really don't have a feeling for making Team USA yet, I'm just really excited and proud," Colella said. "We're doing our tryouts for Wichita State right now and we are through our first week, so that really sharpened me up for this."

Registration is now open for the USBC Team USA Trials, which will be held the first week of January at The Orleans in Las Vegas. The event, which has sold out the men's division the past two years, is expected to sell out again. To enter, visit BOWL.com/TeamUSATrials.